Local Children Hit the Beach to Protect the Snowy Plover

It was just last year that San Diego Audubon asked BVAS to join it in mobilizing our youngest naturalists. Our Nature Guides accepted the challenge, and Sharing Our Shores came to local schools. Since that time, nearly 200 third and fourth grade children have learned how hard it is for snowy plovers and least terns to share the sand with people and their dogs. Through that process, the students have come to see their beaches in a whole new light, and realize they can make an important difference.
Most recently, Foussat Elementary third graders were treated to both in-class and out-in-the-field experiences. At school, students received background on snowy plovers and the unique challenges they face. Art projects led to re-creations of plover nests, called scrapes, and to posters for educating the public at local nesting and roosting spots. Once at South Ponto State Beach, the students explored a variety of topics, including the kelp ecosystem, migration, geology, and human influences (positive and negative). We’ll be out again in the fall, with a new crop of students anxious to learn and lend a hand.